Wasps team for London Irish at Twickenham

Wasps’ Director of Rugby Dai Young has named his side to take on London Irish in the London Double Header, at Twickenham Stadium this Saturday, kick off 17:30.

James Haskell skippers the squad and is set to make his 100th Premiership appearance for Wasps.

Haskell lines up in the back row alongside Nathan Hughes and Thomas Young, who comes in for George Smith, who is rested having played every minute of every game so far this season.

In the second row, Kearnan Myall joins James Gaskell, who was named man of the match during Wasps' win over Toulon last Sunday. Bradley Davies has returned from illness to take a place on the bench, but Joe Launchbury misses out due to a hamstring strain.

After Carlo Festuccia fractured his cheekbone against Toulon, Ashley Johnson starts at hooker, with Edd Shervington coming onto the bench.

There is one change in the backline, with Sailosi Tagicakibau lining up against his former club, in place of Christian Wade, who picked up a foot injury against Toulon, which is expected to side-line the Wasps' winger for between two to three months.

Jimmy Gopperth returns from a three-week suspension to take a place on the bench, alongside former Leinster team mate Brendan Macken. Ben Jacobs will be make his 50th Premiership appearance for Wasps when he runs out against London Irish, who are the home side for this Double Header fixture.

Previewing the game, Dai Young said: "We've set ourselves high standards over the last two European games. Now we need to transfer that form to the Aviva Premiership and find consistency, because we haven't produced that consistency yet.

"In the league so far, we've produced two very good home performances and two very average away performances. I've watched Irish quite a bit and while they haven't had the results they would want yet, their performances haven't been that far off – it's just a matter of them clicking.

"They are a decent team who will certainly cause teams real problems and we are hoping it is not going to be us. The biggest thing I have said this week, is that it is great doing well in Europe, but we need to make sure we qualify for Europe again next year. There's no point in us going on a great run and doing really well in our European campaign and then not qualifying for the European Champions Cup next year. So our next two games are massive for us now.

"This season is relentless, it's a big game this week and then, funnily enough, it's another big game the week after. That is where we are at, every game is a massive game for us.”